We woke up “vacation early” for stingrays around 7 am. We got ready then got a couple pastries from the bakery. Allyssa and I both got the same chocolate croissant she had the day before. Then Katie and I played Mancala on this neat bench they had until our transportation arrived!
We got on the bus with the others and headed to Safehaven Marina where we had taken the dinner ferry the night before. Our pilot friends Josh and Austin were also on the excursion so we met back up with them. We got introduced to the crew and headed out to our first stop. On the way there, the boat had a problem and another boat had to come rescue us! We boarded the new boat, got to know the crew, and were off (again) to the first activity.
On the way there, one of the crew members offered to take our picture together. We thought that was so nice! Then we arrived and they passed out snorkel equipment and life vests for those of us who wanted them. Katie and Allyssa opted to stay on the boat, while I decided to bob around in the water for awhile. I took the life vest but not the snorkel equipment and hopped in. I bobbed around looking down at the fish until a turtle appeared! I followed the turtle back near the boat where he had clearly learned to visit for a snack. Near the boat, one of the crew members named Richard offered me a mask. I was loving checking out the fish so I took the mask and started looking in the water at the fish. I saw other people swimming with the schools of fish so I gave back my life jacket and started swimming around. The water was about a 12-foot max, whereas my shallow dive was to 55ish feet so I was seeing fish I didn’t see before! I had the time of my life and there were so many fish! Katie and Allyssa told me later that the boat crew liked how excited I was so they were throwing food near me so fish would hang out with me. The reef was also super cool. After about 30 minutes we got back on the boat to head to our next stop which was the stingrays!
On the boat we got another briefing about how to interact with the stingrays. The highlights were to shuffle when we walked rather than lifting our feet, not to touch their spines, and when feeding them to make a fist so they don’t get our thumbs. When we got in the water we were shocked at how many there were and how huge they were! They told us that the females could grow up to 6 feet wide while the males maxed out around 18 inches. What a crazy difference! We got to hold them, they brushed our shoulders with them, and we kissed them for 7 years good luck! The captain of the boat told us that we could get 21 years with tongue but none of us were brave enough for that. We were a little nervous because their tails were just whipping around but they assured us that these were not the same type of stingrays that killed Steve Irwin, and that the barb was much smaller and closer to their body so we were unlikely to be stung accidentally. They all had names, the most memorable were Shantelle, Freckles, Big Mama, and Big Mama 2. We got in a big circle and all got to feed Shantelle, they said her suction power was like 3 Dyson vacuums and it sure felt like it! We hung out with the stingrays some more then we were offered the opportunity to feed Shantelle again. This time she bit both me and Allyssa! We didn’t even know she could do that! It hurt worse than we expected, Allyssa was suctioned more than I was and said it felt like she was pulling her hand out scraping it on concrete. Both our wounds bled for a surprisingly long time and we joked that we were attracting sharks.
After our time visiting the stingrays was over, we were back on the boat to head to see the starfish. At this site there was a boat that was basically a food truck where we could order lunch if we wanted. Richard from the boat crew said that they had the best wings on the island. The main rules for the starfish were not to lift them out of the water and to set them down gently on the ocean floor. When we got in, the crew basically went out and collected a bunch for us to look at. That cracked me up! I liked the starfish even more than I thought I would. We could feel them suction to us and watch them sloooooowly wrap around us. We loved them!
Eventually it was time to head back to Safehaven Marina. From there we got back on the bus to head back to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel we went to Coccoloba to have lunch. I had shrimp tacos and “elote” that was actually esquites when it came out. The tacos were really delicious. Allyssa had her last round of chicken tinga tacos then the two of us headed back up to the room while Katie hit the beach. We both showered, then Allyssa fell asleep while I worked on my first blog post. I also took a little nappy nap before Katie returned and it was time to get ready for dinner.
We had invited our pilot friends to dinner at Macabuca and we asked them to pick us up. I had run into Kim and Mike earlier but they already had reservations for dinner that evening so it was just the 5 of us. When we got to Macabuca it was beautiful! It was right on the ocean looking over the water and we were able to watch the sunset. Katie and I ordered Conch Fritters to split but I ended up not liking them. We hung out for awhile then wanted to check out the gift shop, we asked someone at the restaurant about it and it was closed but they opened it for us! Katie got a really cute tank top and a pair of socks she had been wanting. We hung out at Macabuca long enough to see two crabs walking around and meet up with Katie’s local friend Ariana. She was super nice and a fellow cat lover, I really liked her. She offered us a ride home so we said goodbye to Josh and Austin and headed back to the Kimpton. We did cucumber face masks then went to bed sunburnt and happy!
Allison Around the World 